Travis Unified School District trustees get Peabody Road project update

Travis Unified leaders on Tuesday learned some headache-inducing information that had nothing to do with red ink on the school district's 2012-13 budget.

Sure to cause traffic backups and occasional frustrations for nearby residents, Peabody Road south of Vacaville, in the Vanden and Cement Hill roads area, will be closed and detoured for a year beginning June 1 while part of the Vacaville/ Fairfield Train Station project, including a rail overpass, is built.

Speaking at the Travis Education Center in Fairfield, Steven L. Hartwig, assistant public works director for the city of Fairfield, provided an update on the project that began with talks 17 years ago and is expected to be completed, if all goes as planned, by spring 2015.

He told the five-member board that limiting the impacts of the roadwork and construction -- especially noise and increased traffic -- public safety and keeping the construction schedule on track are the city's primary concerns.

"There's no way to sugarcoat this project," Hartwig, a city engineer, said at one point during some 20 minutes of remarks. "We want to get it done as quickly as possible to minimize impacts."

The project's designs are "ninety-five percent" complete and the city will begin to advertise the contract in the coming weeks, he said, adding that he expects the building of utilities and other infrastructure also to begin in the coming weeks.

Over the years, which included public meetings in Vacaville, the project's planning and design phases have taken into account some 200 potential stakeholders, several community workshops and processed some 75 public comments, not including emails, noted Hartwig.

Additionally, the project takes into account district school bus and staff access during construction, travel delays and deliveries to area businesses.

Trustee Gary Craig wondered if more school buses would be required to compensate for parents or students who would not wish to drive on Peabody during construction.

Another board member, Angela Weinzinger, wondered how construction crews would minimize traffic bottlenecks south of Vacaville, particularly the area just north of Vanden Road, where north-south traffic is two lanes.

"It's a safety issue," she said.

In an interview after his remarks, Hartwig said the city of Fairfield is responsible for about $1 million of the construction costs, with the lion's share is paid by federal and state funds.